Indexing-machine.



,A. R. FERGUSSON.

INDEXING MACHINE.

APPLICATION' FILED NOV. 29. I915 1,5,180a Patented Nov. 21, 1916.

7522 726556 [hue/A237" AN BOiBB rnmosson. or carcass. ILLINOIS.

@FFICEQ mDnxme-aaeonmn specification of Eefli'fi'ratent. v Patgnted NOApplication filed November 29,1915.- Saris-11W 0. 83,995.

' Tbjazz 'ioliom it may concern:

. (flexing-Machine, of which the following-is the specification. I

- This invention relates to a translating de-- vice for translatingnames, titles or the like which are to be classified or indexed intonumbers. I

In a co-pending'. application, Serial No. 63996, filed- Nov. 29, 1915, Ihave discloseda method of indexing and recording which consists inassigning'to each letter of the alphabet anarbitrary number between oneand nine whereby the entire alphabet will be divided into three seriesof such numbers; and in then translating names into said numbersentering the resulting numbers upon cards or the like-and numericallyarranging said cards or the like. According to such a system, everynainehas associated therewith a number'wvhich carries upon its face the meansfor properly indexing, placing or finding said numbers.

It is an object of this invention to provide a mechanical means wherebynames may be instantly translated into the numbers employed in thesystem described, whereby the usei of charts, keys, tables or theirequiv- .ale r'its, is entirely dispensed withand it is only necessary towrite the name upon the machines to reveal its correspondingv number. v

It is another object of the invention to provide a machine wherein thename may be written either in letters or1n terms of numbers at the willofthe operator. 7

keys of a stan ard;..type write1{beginning, at

the upper left hand'corne'r of the serieslof letterkeys and numberingeach successive key successively to the right as indicated'in Fig. '1. Ireplace the standard letter key by keys bearing the same lettersfandalso the corresponding numbers, Thus'the Q key will bear a capital Q,and a 1 the -.G, a capital G and a 6. Thus each letter'key has markedupon it the corresponding number accordlng to my system. I provide ,theprinting hammers of thetypewriter with both letters and numbers, thenumbers being lower case and the letters, upper case; so that if anyname is to be translated intothe number system, it will only benecessary for the operator to write the name in the ordinary-fashionupon the corresponding letter keys of the typewriter in lowercase, theresult'being the translation of the name into corresponding numbers.

In. making up cards, loose-leaf ledger sheets or the like, according tomy invention, it ispreferable to have each card bear the name as well asthe index or recording number which is the means of its location andclassification. This may be accoinplished upon the machine constructedaccording to my invention simjplyby writing the name again in uppercase, the result being the name printed in capital letters. Thus inmaking out a-eard or "loose-leaf ledger sheet for my indexing andrecording system, the operator has first merelytowrite the name (orpredetermined number of its letters) in the ordinary fashion upon themachine, the result upon the card being the name in numbers. Theoperator has then merely to shift to upper case to write up the name infull in the ordinary fashion, theresult being the name printed incapital letters. By this-means, translation into the number system ismade mechanical, tables, charts, keys or the like entirely dispensedwith and a mechanically obtained translation into thenumber systeminstantly obtainable by merely operating'the typewriter in the usualfashion is made possible. There is no tax whatever -1 lpOIl'the memoryof the operator and the translation is made as speedy as ordinarywriting.

Having now describedmy invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLettersPatent is g 1. A typewritingmachine havingthe'key levers providedwith the letters of the alpha bet and numerals the numerals beingareranged in series "runningup to 9. whereby a plurality of key leverswill be provided with the same numerals, and type bars being providedwith letters and numerals corresponding to those on the key-board.

2; A t'ypewriting machine having keyle vers providedwith thelettersofthe alphathan IO herebythe operation of anyalphabetie key lever willresult in the printing of my name to this specificatien in the presence15 Of twol wit'nessesg h ALAN ROBBv FERGUSSON. l Witnesses:

A. B. CARROLL, GRACE E. MARKS.

